Hi all,

I've been thinking of SDI modding my Sony DVP-CX777ES DVD changer. I'm planning on hooking the SDI out into the SDI in in my VP30 scaler.

There is a place in CA, MSB Tech, that will do the mod for $400.

The $400 question is... Is it worth it to mod this player?

In theory, the SDI mod will mean I get to skip one DA conversion and one AD conversion as the signal goes into my scaler (output is digital so no conversions after that). I'm just wondering if the difference between it and it's non-SDI breatheren will be noticeable and worth the extra cost?

Thanks for your help!

Stan

Hmm, no one's modded one of these things before to know if it's worth it?

Stan

IIRC, a couple of people in the old 777 thread mentioned getting the SDI mod, so you might want to go back a read all of that old thread.

[edit] Well, I can't find the old 777 thread. I guess it must have been relegated to the archives, but I don't know how to find it.

IIRC, a couple of people in the old 777 thread mentioned getting the SDI mod, so you might want to go back a read all of that old thread.

[edit] Well, I can't find the old 777 thread. I guess it must have been relegated to the archives, but I don't know how to find it.

Darn, I can't seem to find the thread either :(

Stan

Just did mine...it was worth it...make sure the supplier is reputtable!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=955108

Just did mine...it was worth it...make sure the supplier is reputtable!

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=955108

Wow, glad you finally got your working, I've been checking on your thread from time to time!

Care to give me the low down on the perceptible quality improvements on the 777ES before and after the mod? I'm thinking of modding mine then running it into a VP30.

Also, the link you posted for the mod instructions got truncated. Can you repost or PM the link to the PDF?

Not sure if I'm going to do the mod myself or if I should skip the trouble and send the unit over to MSBTech where they'll do everything for me. I believe you posted that they'll also assume the risk in case anything goes wrong.

Thanks for the help!

Stan

http://home.comcast.net/~fmzip/sdi_mod_FINAL_DVP-cx777es.pdf

Yes, I spoke to MSB on the phone.....They will send you back a "working" SDI modded unit, no questions asked!

I guess i could sum it up it up like this, I already have an SDI modded Panasonic RP91.

Once I hooked up the DVP-CX777ES to my ISCAN HD via component video, it looked very soft in comparison to the RP91. After the mod, it's night and day!

Once you go SDI, it's hard to go back.....If you have the money to spend and really appreciate video quality, it's well worth it.

You really need to have steady hands and the proper tools to do the mod. The SDI board costs $150 without shipping, so for the difference, you are putting full liability in the Modification Services hands in most instances.

Don't get screwed over like I did, make sure you get your Mod Service to commit in writing that once they pop the cover off your unit, they are liable. It sort of goes without saying but when the cards fall, integrity can take the back seat and passing the buck can be the easy way out!

Thanks for the update!

That mod looks like it's beyond my skill level. Probably best to let MSB do the work so I don't end up with a $700 door stop!

Glad to hear that SDI is worth it. I think "soft" would accurately describe the 777ES. I always figured it was because it had to go through a DA then an AD step on the way to my screen. Getting rid of these 2 lossy steps will keep everything digital and should help a ton.

Looks like it's time to start removing the discs, dig up the box, and get the little guy ready for a trip to MSB.

Keep us posted, I look forward to hearing about their service and the end result!

I am sure you will love it!

Fran

Will do, I'm hoping to get the player shipped out of here next weekend or the one after.

Stan

hey any news on this yet? im looking to do the same and looking forward to your impressions.

I gave my Sony 777ES changer, SDI board from Pixel Magic, and instructions to one of the techs where I work (one of the perks of working for an electronics company) on Friday.

I'm using the info provided by fmzip.

If everything goes as planned, he'll have my modded changer ready for me on Monday.

I'm really curious to see if bypassing an A-to-D step and D-to-A step is really worth all that trouble... will know soon! :)

Stan

Hmm, looks like I have a problem.

Got my unit back today. No picture on the SDI out. On the component out, I'm getting a picture, but with flashes of green. I think something may be shorting, will need to take the player back in tomorrow to get the tech to take a look.

Will keep you posted.

Stan

Ack, it's looking like I might have a short or something.

Nothing is coming out on the SDI card. Component is flaky. If I allow a movie to continue, it crashes the player after a few minutes.

Tech definately needs to take another look before I consider worst case scenarious.

Second worst case is having to remove the mod.

Worst case is having to replace the board that the mod is on.

Hope we can get this figured out.

Stan

yeah, good luck with that. hopefully the techs can fix it and you'll get a functioning player. keep us posted.

Will do, I have the unit here at work with me.

After 5:00 a couple of my electrical engineering friends and I are going to be meeting up in one of the labs. We're putting it under the microscope, literally, to see if there are any shorts, damaged connectors, etc.

We'll also be scoping it to see if anything interesting is coming out of the SDI port, checking the clock signal, and all kinds of fun stuff.

It's turning into a little adventure, but I'm sure we'll be able to figure this out!

Stan

Just an update. Nothing to report as of testing in the lab today.

We put the board under a microscope and all of the solders look fine. Data pins appear to be transmitting data, the 2 grounds are both grounded, and +5V is coming out the correct pin.

Clock pin is outputting 333 Hz @ 3V... will need to check the specs to make sure that's what we're expecting, but I have a feeling that is correct.

Everything seems to be looking good.

Tomorrow we may try buzzing out the pins on the connector to make sure everything is going where we think they're going.

Stan

Interesting, the crashing problem appears to be gone. The DVDs were really dirty. I cleaned them and the player doesn't seem to be crashing any more.

I'm starting to wonder if the SDI card in my DVDO is not working...

Just wanted to post an update to those following this thread.

I've made no progress so far.

All tests that I've run look good, but nothing is coming up on my screen.

Pixel Magic support is worthless. Only got 1 email answered this week and they didn't provide any information. Waiting on a reply from the last email for over a day now. Their forums suck, they moderate the heck out of it, so it takes 1/2 a day (or more) for something to post.

PMed/Emailed a few AVS members who seem to know SDI. Waiting on replies, will keep you posted if I learn anything new.

I'm totally stuck and out of ideas. Trying to figure out what my next step should be... any suggestions? :P

Stan

wow, thats very odd. do keep us posted on your progress. all i can think of is to send it out to pixel magic and have them look at it. i'm sure they can figure it out, and also, son't they offer the service of installing cards and take full responsibility?

Yeah, given no other information, I've started contact attempts with them to see how to ship the card back to them for analysis. They have a location in California, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to ship the card back to HQ in Hong Kong.

No one from AVS has answered any of my PMs or emails so, being clueless, that appears to be the best route to take.

In hindsight, I'm thinking that I may have been better off hiring someone to do the mod instead of doing it myself in the first place. The mod, itself, was pretty easy, but being that it isn't working I lack the knowledge to proceed further.

Fortunately, my DVD player is not damaged (everything works fine if I unplug the card) so, technically, I should be able to get someone else to do a full service mod. I'll be about $210 extra in the hole if I go that route, but at least I got to learn a little about electronics in the process so I still got something out of this.

Might as well ship the card first to PMS to see if something is wrong with it, but if the card checks out I may see if MBS is willing to give it a go as they have a full service option - I'll need to dump my card for theirs hence the bit of a loss.

Stan

PMS got back to me. I removed the card from the player and packed it up with all related installation documentation just a little while ago.

Planning on sending it back to Hong Kong either Wed or Fri for testing. It'll probably be about a week before I hear back from them about what they found when testing the card.

Will post back as soon as I hear from them.

Stan

Just got word back from PMS. They said that they'd send me a new card.

I asked for clarification, but it sounds like their technitian may have found something wrong with the original.

Hopefully everything works ok when the replacement SDI card arrives. Will keep you posted with updates.

Stan

thats great news. hopefully it was a faulty card. looking forward to your progress.

I got the new SDI card today and installed it back in my changer. We're definately making progress. Turns out my original card was bad after all.

I'm getting an image now but it's a little off.

The top of the image is 6 pixels too low and the overall height of the image appears to be 11 pixels too high.

This is probably a scaler issue with my DVDO. I can move the image up and down to take care of the first problem, but the VP30 will only let me enlarge the picture in the image controls... not shrink it to take care of the size problem. I'll probably put a post in the VP forum and shoot an email over to DVDO asking about this.

Another of the original issues, where the SDI card was causing the image on my component output to flash is also gone with the new card. As far as I can tell, the component output now continues to work normally with the card installed.

Otherwise, from what I can tell, the SDI does indeed improve the picture, but it's really subtle.

The image appears be a tiny bit sharper. Definately brighter. Because of the brightness I saw a few more details in a paused scene with the SDI than I did when switching back over to component. The colors seem to "pop" a little more (in the good way).

It's all subtle, but I think it's a definate improvement.

Once I solve the offset-picture issue, all will be good to go!

Stan

can you confirm that it will output an sdi image (to a scaler) and also component simultaneously?

Yes, I can confirm that.

On Friday, I had both cables connected to my changer and was switching between component and SDI in my DVDO to compare.

I now only have the SDI connected (wanted to get rid of my huge component cable).

Stan

thats great news. ive been looking to get this player sdi modded as well and run it through a scaler via sdi, as well as an escient controller. the escient only has component ins, so i would have to view the movie catalogue through component and then have it switch to sdi to scaler when a movie is chosen. would you say this player's picture quality (sdi into vp) is on par with say a denon 3930 upconverting dvd player?